In House Resolution 1623, Iloilo Rep. Neil Tupas Jr. (Liberal Party)wants to look into “allegations of the grant of behest loans or the execution of questionable loan transactions by the previous board of the DBP in favor of the business interests of the businessman for the purpose of crafting legislation defining possible new crimes arising from similar loan transactions.”
Tupas, chairman of the House’s justice committee, sought to determine the accountability of public officers and employees and the role of the Judiciary in the conduct of administrative investigations in the grant of the alleged behest loans.”
“The investigation will cover all angles of the alleged behest loans and whether it was disadvantageous to the government. All persons who might have violated the law should be held accountable. Definitely the committee will be fair and as part of the inquiry, will also investigate the alleged violation of due process and the alleged witch hunt by the current DBP board in investigating the loan,” said Tupas.
“We intend to investigate whether the previous DBP board violated certain laws and regulations in approving the two loans of Delta Ventures Co. and whether certain transactions not yet covered by any law need remedial legislation,” he added.
Ang Kasangga Party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco earlier sought an investigation, in aid of legislation, on the multibillion-peso loans extended by the DBP to large private corporations to partly fund its capital expenditure programs for this year and next year.
On August 5 the DBP filed criminal and administrative cases against its past board, led by Chairman Patricia Santo Tomas, President Reynaldo David and Ongpin, in connection with the alleged P660-million behest loans that the bank had granted to a company of Ongpin, Delta Ventures Resources Inc. (DVRI), to finance his acquisition of Philex Mining shares.
Also indicted for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; Civil Service Laws; RA 8791, or the General Banking Law of 2000, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Rules and Regulations and the DBP’s internal rules were former DBP Chief Operating Officer Edgardo Garcia and former directors Ramon Durano IV, Alexander Magno, Floro Oliveros, Joseph Pangilinan, Miguel Romero, Franklin Velarde and Renato Velasco and several other DBP officials.
DBP Chairman Jose Nuñez and President Francisco del Rosario Jr., in their joint affidavit, alleged that the past board extended two “behest” loans of P150 million and P510 million to DVRI, despite its having only P625,000 in paid-up capital and despite its latest financial statements which DVRI submitted, indicating a net loss of P98.76 million and retained earnings of negative P2.35 million.
They alleged that Ongpin’s Delta Ventures used the DBP facility to buy a block of Philex Mining shares at P12.75 a share, which he later sold to Manuel Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Group as part of a bloc at P21 per share.
“That the [second] P510-million loan applied for by this puny company was approved by the risk management committee, the executive credit committee, and the board all in one day makes it doubly suspicious,” the complaint said, noting that, at that time, Ongpin’s DVRI was an undercapitalized company with a paid-up capital of only P625,000.
According to the Commission on Audit, the transaction deprived the bank of an opportunity trading gain of P412.4 million.
The complaint also accused the past DBP board members and respondents-bank officers of violating banking laws, exposing the bank to high-lending risks and favored certain private individuals, who profited from these loan and trading transactions.
It cited the findings of the COA which states that “the P510-million loan was 816 times more than the P625,000 paid-up capital of (DVRI), thus raising doubts on the paying capacity of the borrower at the time the loan was granted.”
